The helmet to the chin only made Beathard mad

IOWA CITY — After taking a helmet to the chin, Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard kind of short-circuited, just not in the way you'd think.

The helmet belonged to Pitt linebacker Matt Galambos. It landed directly on Beathard's chin on the first play after Pitt scored its first TD, which, coincidentally, was set up by a Beathard interception early in the second quarter. It was an already ugly sequence for Beathard. The helmet to the chin was the last straw.

Play was halted because the ball popped loose after Beathard's elbow hit the ground for the 11-yard sack. During the review, Beathard went over to the sideline. The Iowa training staff started what sounded as if it were concussion protocol. This includes questions like 'what quarter is it?'

'I got to the sideline and I told them I was fine,' Beathard said Tuesday. 'I didn't feel like I had a concussion at all, I was more pissed off than anything.'

So, the helmet to the chin wasn't exactly the last straw. It was the next-to-the-last straw. 'What quarter is it?' was the last-last straw.

'Stop asking me these questions, I'm all right,' said Beathard, who added that his left hip was the sore spot after Saturday night. 'They asked me what quarter it was and I was like, I'm not stupid, I know what quarter it is. I obviously didn't have a concussion is what I'm trying to say.'

After review and concussion protocol, the Hawkeyes (3-0) got the ball back and eventually punted. On their next drive, Beathard took another shot on a blitz and completed an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Tevaun Smith. He completed 5 of 7 passes for 55 yards to spur the scoring drive and give Iowa a 17-7 lead.

It kind of went that way during the rest of Iowa's 27-24 victory over Pitt last weekend. Pitt hit Beathard, and Beathard only got hotter and hotter, eventually finishing 27 of 40 for 258 yards.

Passing yards

For a more detailed breakdown of this game, click here.

'He doesn't get angry too often, and that just goes back to his character and who he is off the field,' wide receiver Jacob Hillyer said. 'We know what kind of person he is and he's not really an angry guy. [But] if you hit him, he's going to want to hit you back. He's determined and that's why he's such a good leader.'

Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz talked Saturday night about Beathard's toughness, saying the junior is 'hard as nails.' Tuesday, he explained what that toughness intangible means to the QB position.

'I think you have to give him a lot of credit there,' Ferentz said. 'Those are the things that are hard to evaluate without a player being in a game. The toughness aspect, it's hard for any quarterback at any level to be extraordinary if they're not tough-minded. I mean, they just have to be. That's the nature of that position. Then, the other two parts are judgment and the poise aspect, and they kind of go together. It's easier to have good judgment when you're not getting hit in the face or getting chased around, those types of things.

'But that's football. It's going to happen. You have to be able to deal with those things. Tough crowds, et cetera, bad circumstances, all those things, because it's going to happen during the course of the season. And again, it's hard to simulate. You try to simulate those things, but you can't simulate 60,000 or a hundred thousand people screaming at you or peaks and valleys or getting hit in the Adam's Apple, whatever it may be. I think if anything I've been impressed with, and I think everybody on our staff [has been impressed with], just his poise and judgment over three games has really been impressive. It's really something to build on. We're not there yet, but it's something to build on.'

Beathard believed the helmet to the chin should've been a penalty, but . . .

'At the time I was just frustrated because I got sacked,' he said. 'I knew I didn't fumble because I hit the ground and the ball came out, so I wasn't worried about that. I was just frustrated I got sacked and we were down to second-and-long.'

The good thing for Iowa is that Beathard could stand for 20-plus minutes on Tuesday and discuss a night that, for him, was a three-hour slam dance. Beathard didn't know how many hits he took. It's not something they track, he said. The offensive line, however, took notice and probably did have a count.

'We don't really say sorry, but that's our fault,' right tackle Ike Boettger said. 'We have to shore that up and make sure he's not getting hit like that. We can't have that.'

No, Iowa can't have that. Remember, after Beathard, it's redshirt freshman Tyler Wiegers on the depth chart. Wiegers played in mop-up time during the opener and that's it. For his career.

But even beyond that, you saw the Iowa offense against Pitt. The Iowa staff thought that the running game wouldn't be there against the Panthers and first-year coach Pat Narduzzi, who made his bones as Mark Dantonio's defensive coordinator at Michigan State. And, really, the running game wasn't there. With running back LeShun Daniels slowed by an ankle injury, Iowa averaged 3.6 yards on 29 carries.

So, the game plan tilted toward Beathard. It tilted decidedly toward Beathard. He took it and ran with it, kind of literally.

Iowa's offense doesn't easily change its stripes. Beathard has shown so far that he can manage that, so, no, the Hawkeyes can't have him taking unnecessary hits.

Part of this goes to Beathard. He's going to run and scramble and, so far, he doesn't slide. 'I'm not big on sliding,' he said. 'One, I'm not good at it. I did play baseball, but on a football field, it feels weird.'

It is a 12-game season, and Beathard has that in mind. He said his time since Saturday night has been 'ice bath, hot tub, Tylenol.' He's spent most of this time trying to get his hip right, which he said he felt pull in the first half Saturday night.

'I've got to be smart, but at the same time, I'm a gamer and I want to be competitive,' Beathard said. 'If I'm forced to dive and get a first down, I'm going to do it. I'm not going to be a baby out there, but there are times I should slide and get out of bounds. I felt like I did that, but at times when we need it, I'm going to try to get the extra yard.'

l Comments: (319) 398-8256; marc.morehouse@thegazette.com